History

Formation

Until the English Civil War, England never had a standing army with professional officers and careerist corporals and sergeants. It relied on militia organized by local officials, or private forces mobilized by the nobility, or on hired mercenaries from Europe.[14] From the later Middle Ages until the English Civil War, when a foreign expeditionary force was needed, such as the one that Henry V of England took to France and that fought at the Battle of Agincourt (1415), the army, a professional one, was raised for the duration of the expedition.[15]

During the English Civil War, the members of the Long Parliament realised that the use of county militia organised into regional associations (such as the Eastern Association), often commanded by local members of parliament (both from the House of Commons and the House of Lords), while more than able to hold their own in the regions which Parliamentarians controlled, were unlikely to win the war. So Parliament initiated two actions. The Self-denying Ordinance, with the notable exception of Oliver Cromwell, forbade members of parliament from serving as officers in the Parliamentary armies. This created a distinction between the civilians in Parliament, who tended to be Presbyterian and conciliatory to the Royalists in nature, and a corps of professional officers, who tended to Independent politics, to whom they reported. The second action was legislation for the creation of a Parliamentary-funded army, commanded by Lord General Thomas Fairfax, which became known as the New Model Army (originally new-modelled Army).[16]

While this proved to be a war winning formula, the New Model Army, being organized and politically active, went on to dominate the politics of the Interregnum and by 1660 was widely disliked. The New Model Army was paid off and disbanded at the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. For many decades the excesses of the New Model Army under the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell was a horror story and the Whig element recoiled from allowing a standing army.[17] The militia acts of 1661 and 1662 prevented local authorities from calling up militia and oppressing their own local opponents. Calling up the militia was possible only if the king and local elites agreed to do so.[18]

After the Restoration Charles II pulled together four regiments of infantry and cavalry, calling them his guards, at a cost of £122,000 from his general budget. This became the foundation of the permanent English Army. By 1685 it had grown to 7,500 soldiers in marching regiments, and 1,400 men permanently stationed in garrisons. A rebellion in 1685 allowed James II to raise the forces to 20,000 men. There were 37,000 in 1678, when England played a role in the closing stage of the Franco-Dutch War. After William and Mary's accession to the throne England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring James II (Mary's father).[25] In 1689, William III expanded the army to 74,000, and then to 94,000 in 1694. Parliament was very nervous, and reduced the cadre to 7000 in 1697. Scotland and Ireland had theoretically separate military establishments, but they were unofficially merged with the English force.[26][27]

By the time of the 1707 Acts of Union, many regiments of the English and Scottish armies were combined under one operational command and stationed in the Netherlands for the War of the Spanish Succession. Although all the regiments were now part of the new British military establishment,[3] they remained under the old operational-command structure and retained much of the institutional ethos, customs and traditions of the standing armies created shortly after the restoration of the monarchy 47 years earlier. The order of seniority of the most-senior British Army line regiments is based on that of the English army. Although technically the Scots Royal Regiment of Foot was raised in 1633 and is the oldest Regiment of the Line,[28] Scottish and Irish regiments were only allowed to take a rank in the English army on the date of their arrival in England (or the date when they were first placed on the English establishment). In 1694, a board of general officers was convened to decide the rank of English, Irish and Scots regiments serving in the Netherlands; the regiment which became known as the Scots Greys were designated the 4th Dragoons because there were three English regiments raised prior to 1688, when the Scots Greys were first placed in the English establishment. In 1713, when a new board of general officers was convened to decide the rank of several regiments, the seniority of the Scots Greys was reassessed and based on their June 1685 entry into England. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, and the Scots Greys eventually received the British Army rank of 2nd Dragoons.[29]

British Empire (1700-1914)

After 1700 British continental policy was to contain expansion by competing powers such as France and Spain. Although Spain was the dominant global power during the previous two centuries and the chief threat to England's early transatlantic ambitions, its influence was now waning. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession[30] and the Napoleonic Wars.[31]

The English were involved politically and militarily in Ireland since receiving the Lordship of Ireland from the pope in 1171. The campaign of English republican Protector Oliver Cromwell involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns (most notably Drogheda and Wexford) which supported the Royalists during the English Civil War. The English Army (and the subsequent British Army) remained in Ireland primarily to suppress Irish revolts or disorder. In addition to its conflict with Irish nationalists, it was faced with the prospect of battling Anglo-Irish and Ulster Scots in Ireland who were angered by unfavourable taxation of Irish produce imported into Britain. With other Irish groups, they raised a volunteer army and threatened to emulate the American colonists if their conditions were not met. Learning from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution. The British Army fought Irish rebels--Protestant and Catholic--primarily in Ulster and Leinster (Wolfe Tone'sUnited Irishmen) in the 1798 rebellion.[47]

World Wars (1914-1945)

British World War I Mark I tank; the guidance wheels behind the main body were later scrapped as unnecessary. Armoured vehicles of the era required considerable infantry and artillery support. (Photo by Ernest Brooks)

Infantrymen of the Middlesex Regiment with horse-drawn Lewis gun carts returning from the trenches near Albert, France in September 1916. In the background is a line of supply lorries.

Great Britain has been challenged by other powers, primarily the German Empire and the Third Reich during the 20th century. A century earlier it vied with Napoleonic France for global pre-eminence, and Hannoverian Britain's natural allies were the kingdoms and principalities of northern Germany. By the middle of the 19th century, Britain and France were allies in preventing Russia's appropriation of the Ottoman Empire (although the fear of French invasion led shortly afterwards to the creation of the Volunteer Force. By the first decade of the 20th century, the United Kingdom was allied with France (by the Entente Cordiale) and Russia (which had a secret agreement with France for mutual support in a war against the Prussian-led German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire).[51]

World War I was the most devastating in British military history, with nearly 800,000 men killed and over two million wounded. Early in the war, the BEF was virtually destroyed and was replaced first by volunteers and then a conscript force. Major battles included those at the Somme and Passchendaele.[54] Advances in technology saw the advent of the tank[55] (and the creation of the Royal Tank Regiment) and advances in aircraft design (including the creation of the Royal Flying Corps) which would be decisive in future battles.[56] Trench warfare dominated Western Front strategy for most of the war, and the use of chemical weapons (disabling and poison gases) added to the devastation.[57]

After the US entered the war and the British Army recovered from its earlier defeats, it defeated the Germans and Italians at the Second Battle of El Alamein in North Africa in 1942-1943 and helped drive them from Africa. It then fought through Italy[60] and, with the help of American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Indian and Free French forces,[61] took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944; nearly half the Allied soldiers were British.[62] In the Far East, the British Army rallied against the Japanese in the Burma Campaign and regained the British Far Eastern colonial possessions.[63]

Persian Gulf War

The British Army contributed 50,000 troops to the coalition which fought Iraq in the Persian Gulf War,[75] and British forces controlled Kuwait after its liberation. Forty-seven British military personnel died during the war.[76]

Operation Banner ended at midnight on 31 July 2007 after about 38 years of continuous deployment, the longest in British Army history.[86] According to an internal document released in 2007, the British Army had failed to defeat the IRA but made it impossible for them to win by violence. Operation Helvetic replaced Operation Banner in 2007, maintaining fewer service personnel in a more-benign environment.[86][87] From 1971 to 1997, a total of 763 British military personnel were killed during the Troubles.[88] About 300 deaths during the conflict were attributed to the British Army, including paramilitary troops and civilians.[89]

Recent history (2000-present)

War in Afghanistan

In November 2001, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom with the United States, the United Kingdom invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban in Operation Herrick.[90] The 3rd Division were deployed in Kabul to assist in the liberation of the capital and defeat Taliban forces in the mountains. In 2006 the British Army began concentrating on fighting Taliban forces and bringing security to Helmand Province, with around 9,500 British troops (including marines, airmen and sailors) deployed at its peak[91]--the second-largest force after that of the US.[92] In December 2012 Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the combat mission would end in 2014, and troop numbers gradually fell as the Afghan National Army took over the brunt of the fighting. Between 2001 and 26 April 2014 a total of 453 British military personnel died in Afghan operations.[93] Operation Herrick ended with the handover of Camp Bastion on 26 October 2014,[94] but the British Army maintains a deployment in Afghanistan as part of Operation Toral.[95]

Iraq War

In 2003 the United Kingdom was a major contributor to the invasion of Iraq, sending a force of over 46,000 military personnel. The British Army controlled southern Iraq, maintained a peace-keeping presence in Basra.[96] All British troops were withdrawn from Iraq by 30 April 2009, after the Iraqi government refused to extend their mandate.[97] One hundred seventy-nine British military personnel died in Iraqi operations.[80] The British Armed Forces returned to Iraq in 2014 as part of Operation Shader to counter the Islamic State (ISIL).[98]

UK Operations/Military Aid to the Civil Authorities

The British Army maintains a standing liability to support the civil authorities in certain circumstances, usually in either niche capabilities (e.g. explosive ordance removal) or in general support of the civil authorities when their capacity is exceeded.[99][100] In recent years this has been seen as Army personnel supporting the civil authorities in the face of the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, the 2002 Firefighters strike, widespread flooding in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2014 and most recently supporting the security services on Operation Temperer following the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.[101]

Modern army

Personnel

The British Army has been a volunteer force since national service ended during the 1960s.[64] Since the creation of the part-time, reserve Territorial Force in 1908 (renamed the Army Reserve in 2014) the full-time British Army has been known as the Regular Army. In January 2018 there were just over 81,500 trained Regulars and 27,000 Army Reservists.[102]

In addition to the active Regular and Reserve force all former Regular Army personnel may be recalled for duty if required (known as the Regular Reserve)[104]. The Regular Reserve has two categories: A and D. Category A is mandatory, with the length of time in the category dependent on time spent in Regular Army service. Category D is voluntary, and consists of personnel who are no longer required to serve in category A. Regular Reserves in both categories serve under a fixed-term reserve contract and may report for training or service overseas and at home,[104] similar to the Army Reserve.[105][104] In 2007, there were 121,800 Regular Reserves, of which 33,760 served in categories A and D.[106] Beginning in April 2013, the full Regular Reserve strength was no longer reported--only those serving in categories A and D (30,000 in 2015).[107]

Equipment

Infantry

The British Army's basic infantry weapon is the L85A2 or L85A3 assault rifle, sometimes equipped with an L17A2 under-barrel grenade launcher or other attachments with the Picatinny rail. The rifle has several variants, including the L86A2, the Light Support Weapon (LSW) and the L22A2 carbine (issued to tank crews). These weapons are usually equipped with iron sights or an optical SUSAT, although optical sights have been purchased to supplement these.[119]

Protected mobility

Where armour is not required or mobility and speed are favoured the British Army utilises protected patrol vehicles, such as the Panther variant of the Iveco LMV, the Foxhound, and variants of the Cougar family (such as the Ridgeback, Husky and Mastiff).[136] For day-to-day utility work the army commonly uses the Land Rover Wolf, which is based on the Land Rover Defender.[137]

International Military Assistance Training Team: The British Army were deployed to Sierra Leone for Operation Palliser in 1999, under United Nations resolutions, to aid the government in quelling violent uprisings by militiamen. Troops remain in the region to provide military support and training to the Sierra Leone government. British troops also provided support during the 2014 West African Ebola virus epidemic.[152]

Two resident infantry battalions, Royal Engineers and Joint Service Signals Unit at Ayios Nikolaos as part of British Forces Cyprus. The UK retains two Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus after the rest of the island's independence, which are forward bases for deployments to the Middle East. Principal facilities are Alexander Barracks at Dhekelia and Salamanca Barracks at Episkopi.[163]

Part of British Forces Germany: Home of the 1st (UK) Armoured Division. British forces remained in Germany after the end of the Second World War. The forces were reduced considerably after the end of the Cold War and in October 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron announced large cuts in defence; all UK troops currently in Germany will leave by 2020.[165]

British Army Training Unit Kenya: The army has a training centre in Kenya, under an agreement with the Kenyan government, which provides training facilities for three infantry battalions per year.[167]

Naming conventions of units differ for historical reasons, creating some confusion; the term "battalion" in the infantry is synonymous with a cavalry, artillery or engineer regiment, and the infantry "company" is synonymous with an engineer or cavalry squadron and an artillery battery. The table below illustrates the different names for equivalent units.[169]

Infantry

Cavalry

Artillery

Engineers

Regiment (two or more battalions grouped for administration)

No equivalent

No equivalent

No equivalent

Battalion

Regiment

Regiment

Regiment

Company

Squadron

Battery

Squadron

Platoon

Troop

Troop

Troop

Adding to the confusion is the tendency of units (again for historical reasons) to misuse titles for larger administrative structures. Although the Royal Artillery consists of 13 Regular regiments (equivalent to infantry battalions), it calls itself the Royal Regiment of Artillery when referring to the units as a whole. The Royal Logistic Corps and Intelligence Corps are not corps-sized, but corps in this instance are administrative branches consisting of several battalions or regiments.[10]

Operational structure

The field forces of the British Army after the Army 2020 reforms are organised in garrison as:

Reaction forces: A modified 16 Air Assault Brigade and an armoured division (3rd Division) of three armoured infantry brigades (1st, 12th and 20th Armoured Infantry Brigades). In 2020, this division will reorganise and consist of two armoured infantry brigades and two strike brigades.[170][171]

Adaptive forces: The 1st Division, consisting of seven infantry brigades. In 2020, the adaptive force will consist of specialised infantry battalions who will train, advise, assist, mentor and accompany operations by indigenous forces.[170][171]

For operational tasks the most common unit is the battlegroup, formed around a combat unit and supported by units (or sub-units) from other areas. An example of a battlegroup in the Reactive Force (e.g. the 1st Brigade) would be two companies of armoured infantry (e.g. from the 1st Battalion of the Mercian Regiment), one squadron of heavy armour (e.g. A Squadron of the Royal Tank Regiment), a company of engineers (e.g. B Company of the 22nd Engineer Regiment), a battery of artillery (e.g. D Battery of the 1st Regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery) and smaller attachments from medical, logistic and intelligence units. Typically organised and commanded by a battlegroup headquarters and named after the unit which provided the most combat units, in this example it would be the 1 Mercian Battlegroup). This creates a self-sustaining mixed formation of armour, infantry, artillery, engineers and support units, typically 600 to 1,000 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel.[169]

The table below demonstrates how three or four battlegroups make up a brigade and three or four brigades make up a division. A division is currently the largest unit the British Army is capable of deploying independently, although it could be grouped with three or four other divisions from a multi-national coalition to form a corps.[169]

Local units

1939 Dominion and Colonial Regiments

1945 Order of Precedence of the British Army

The British Army historically included many units from what are now separate Commonwealthrealms. When the English Empire was established in North America, Bermuda, and the West Indies in the early Seventeenth Century there was no standing English Army, only the Militia, and this was extended to the colonies. Colonial Militias defended colonies single-handedly at first against Indigenous peoples and European competitors. Once the standing English Army, later the British Army, came into existence, the colonial Militias fought side-by-side with it in a number of wars, including the Seven Years' War. Some of the colonial Militias rebelled during the American War of Independence. Militia fought alongside the regular British Army (and Native allies) in defending British North America from their former countrymen during the American War of 1812. With the growth of the Empire around the world, Non-European (i.e., non-white, except for officers) units were recruited in many colonies and protectorates, but most were deemed auxiliaries and not part of the British Army. The West India Regiments were an exception, as they were fully incorporated into the British Army, but were kept outside of Europe and non-whites were denied commissions. Locally raised units in strategically-located colonies (including Bermuda, Gibraltar, Malta) and the Channel Islands were generally more fully integrated into the British Army as evident from their appearances in British Army Lists, unlike units such as King's African Rifles. The larger colonies (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, et cet.) mostly achieved Commonwealth Dominion status before or after the First World War and were granted granted full legislative independence in 1931. While remaining within the British Empire, this placed their governments on a par with the British Government, and hence their military units comprised separate armies (e.g. the Australian Army), although Canada retained the term Militia for its military forces until the Second World War. From the 1940s, these Dominions and many colonies chose full independence, usually becoming Commonwealth realms (as member states of the Commonwealth are known today).[177][178]

Recruitment

Although the army primarily recruits within the United Kingdom, it accepts applications from Commonwealth citizens and (occasionally) those from friendly nations who meet certain criteria. In 2016, it was decided to open all roles to women in 2018; women had not previously been permitted to join the Combat Arms.[183] The British Army is an equal-opportunity employer (with some exceptions due to its medical standards), and does not discriminate based on race, religion or sexual orientation.[184]

The minimum age is 16 (after the end of GCSEs), although soldiers under 18 may not serve in operations.[185] The maximum recruitment age was raised in January 2007 from 26 to 33 years, and the maximum age for Army Reserve soldiers is higher. A soldier would traditionally enlist for a term of 22 years, although recently there has been a shift towards 12-year terms with a 22-year option. A soldier is not normally permitted to leave until they have served for at least four years, and must give 12 months' notice.[186]

Oath of allegiance

All soldiers must take an oath of allegiance upon joining the Army, a process known as attestation. Those who wish to swear by God use the following words:[8]

I, [soldier's name], swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, her heirs and successors and that I will as in duty bound honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty, her heirs and successors in person, crown and dignity against all enemies and will observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors and of the generals and officers set over me.[187]

Others replace the words "swear by Almighty God" with "solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm".[8]

Flags and ensigns

The army's official flag is the 3:5 ratioUnion Jack, although a non-ceremonial flag flies at the Ministry of Defence building in Whitehall and is often used at recruiting and military events and exhibitions.[198] It represents the army on the Cenotaph at Whitehall in London, the UK memorial to its war dead.[199] Each British Army unit has a set of flags, known as the colours--normally a Regimental Colour and a Queen's Colour (the Union Jack).

Each regiment and corps has distinctive insignia, such as a cap badge, beret, tactical recognition flash or stable belt. Many units also call soldiers of different ranks by different names; a NATO OR-1 (private) is called a guardsman in Guards regiments, a gunner in artillery units and a sapper in engineer units. These names do not affect a soldier's pay or role.[201]

Uniforms

The British Army uniform has sixteen categories, ranging from ceremonial uniforms to combat dress to evening wear. No. 8 Dress, the day-to-day uniform, is known as "Personal Clothing System - Combat Uniform" (PCS-CU)[202] and consists of a Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP) windproof smock, a lightweight jacket and trousers with ancillary items such as thermals and waterproofs.[203] The army has introduced tactical recognition flashes (TRFs); worn on the right arm of a combat uniform, the insignia denotes the wearer's regiment or corps.[204]

In addition to working dress, the army has a number of parade uniforms for ceremonial and non-ceremonial occasions. The most-commonly-seen uniforms are No.1 Dress (full ceremonial, seen at formal occasions such as at the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace) and No.2 Dress (Service Dress), a brown khaki uniform worn for non-ceremonial parades.[203]

^ abChandler, David (2003). The Oxford history of the British Army. Oxford University Press. p. xv. ISBN978-0-19-280311-5. It is generally accepted that the regular standing army in Britain was officially created - in the sense of being fully accommodated within parliamentary control in 1689, although it is, strictly speaking, only correct to refer to the British army from the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707.

^Glozier, Matthew; Onnekink, David (2007). War, religion and service: Huguenot soldiering, 1685-1713. Ashgate. p. 31. ISBN0-7546-5444-3. After the Restoration there were separate English, Scottish (until 1707) and Irish (until 1800) military establishments, reflecting the national revenue from which a military unit was maintained. In operational and administrative matters all three combined into a single formation. From 1688, the description 'British' army is both convenient and accurate.

^David Chandler, The Oxford History of the British Army (2003) p. xvi-xvii

^Rasler, Karen (1994). The Great Powers and Global Struggle, 1490-1990. United States: University Press of Kentucky. p. 149. ISBN0-8131-3353-X. (Figure 8.1 Change in the Size of the British Army 1650-1910)

^Army Briefing Note 120/14, Newly formed Force Troops Command Specialist Brigades: "It commands all of the Army's Intelligence, Surveillance and Electronic Warfare assets, and is made up of units specifically from the former 1 Military Intelligence Brigade and 1 Artillery Brigade, as well as 14 Signal Regiment, 21 and 23 SAS®."